Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) is a condition of a non-cancerous enlargement of the prostate gland, especially prevalent in older men. As the prostate becomes enlarged, it may put pressure on the urethra and may cause pain, difficulty in urination, and infection. Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) is a technique for treating BPH. HoLEP generally uses a laser device that is inserted into the urethra, e.g., through a sheath, to target and remove prostate tissue. The laser device is used to cut excess prostate tissue to relieve pressure on the urethra. During the procedure, pieces of the excised tissue are moved into the bladder for removal from the body with a morcellator. The morcellator is a surgical device having a small opening at its distal end equipped with one or more blades and suction capability. The morcellator uses suction to draw the tissue to the opening, wherein the blades cut the tissue into sufficiently small pieces for removal via a narrow return conduit of the morcellator.
Due to its narrow return conduit and small opening, the morcellator often requires a significant amount of time for tissue removal. Other complications associated with the morcellator include drawing the tissue to the opening, since the tissue generally moves throughout the bladder and pieces of tissue have a tendency to bounce off or be deflected from the morcellator. Moreover, the morcellator has moving blades and may pose a risk of damaging the bladder, e.g., a mucosal lining of the bladder. Setting up the number of components used in the morcellator procedure may also require additional time. Thus, it may be desirable to provide for alternative systems and methods for tissue extraction.